Machteld Aardse (Eersel 1972) is a multimedia artist based in Amsterdam. Drawing is her basis from which her work seeks out other media; finding their edges in order for communication to mutually resonate within new physical levels. She is intrigued by varying views of the world and the urban memory, particularly specific connections and short-circuits. Most of her work is executed in the public space. After getting a Masters Degree in Art History at the University of Amsterdam, she completed a BFA in Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Aacdemie in Amsterdam and an MFA in Public Art at the Dutch Art Institute. Aardse is part of De Beeldvormers , the Moving Academy for Performing Arts (MAPA) and Art Partner.

Among other, her work has been exhibited at the Nederlandsche Bank, the New York Islands Festival, the Women's Art Festival in Aleppo Syria, Museum het Rembrandthuis, the Hollandsche Schouwburg and the Amsterdam Light Festival. Together with Aida Grovestins she produced the documentary film Quitte le Pouvoir and made drawings for the animations in the film.

"Machteld Aardse’s work, in all its versatility, shows a recurring fascination for the performativity of drawing. To Aardse, a drawing is always more than a depiction of the world, a drawing is an intervention in the world. By sitting down with a sheet of paper and a bunch of pencils or crayons and asking someone to strike a pose, a small, intimate theatre comes into being: the person portrayed tries out different poses, a dialogue unfolds, time passes. By means of videos, installations and performances, Aardse then explores the implications of the 'drawing scene' and what is revealed after the portrait is completed. A finished portrait always shows more than just the person portrayed and the way she wants to present herself to the world. By hanging a portrait somewhere, or by simply giving it to the person who just has been drawn, a second scene emerges. We are now not just confronted with the fantasies, desires and fears of the individual who is being subjected to the artist’s gaze, we are also being confronted with how these feelings are embedded in a concrete social context. " Yasco Horsman

EDUCATION

2013

2005 - 2007

2006

2005

2002

1999 - 2004

1992 - 1998

1996

Masterclass 3D lab Haarlem www.3d-lab.org

Dutch Art Institute (DAI), Public Art (MFA), Enschede

SAGA Writing Interactive Fiction, Academy for Film and Television, München